Green stuff

I’ve neglected this blog as I focus on the shell , as our Toronto renovation project is known, helped of course by the fact that there has not been much to preserve right now. It’s been a cool, wet spring and early summer, and it’s just not the season for major jamming ventures yet. But I did venture briefly into rhubarb orange ginger jam from an internet recipe (4 cups rhubarb turned into a paltry two jars) as a two-evening midweek venture. I definitely trebled the ginger in the recipe, as is my wont, and admit I’ll probably pass on the orange next time — I don’t think it added that much to the flavor — but believe it or not, I was actually running out of jam. Had to do something about that one.

But the real news is that our temporary home this summer (while we renovate the shell) comes with a big, sunny garden, so I optimistically planted snowpeas, beans, and four different sorts of greens, as well as a selection of heirloom and other tomatoes. The soil is probably the heaviest, clayiest soil I’ve ever seen, and we had a few torrential downpours after the planting (which was just after the May 24 weekend), so not everything germinated, but I proudly picked my first small handful of Asian greens today. It’s not enough for a salad yet. Maybe sliced up in chicken soup for a light and instant meal?

The chives, a legacy from gardeners past, are doing much better though, so I tried another internet experiement with chive-flower vinegar. Take a handful of chive flowers, strip the blossoms flowers from the stalks and submerge in a jar of white vinegar on the kitchen counter for a week or so. Strain, use over the year, or until you get fed up with it. No clue what it’s going to taste like, but oh it looks pretty.